Friday, October 9, 2015

The Heir by Kiera Cass (Review)

Synopsis

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

Quotes

Didn't they know who I was, what they'd trained me for? I was Eadlyn Schreave. No one was more powerful than me.

So if they thought I was going down without a fight, they were sadly mistaken.

I continued to stalk around the room, checking to make sure I covered everyone I wanted gone. The reactions of the spared boys ranged from interesting to bizarre.

I turned away from the mirror to look at her directly. "That's not what I mean. It's simply intriguing to me the dynamic you must have. You have my laundry in your arms, and he might cure a disease. Those are two incredibly different roles in the world."

My Thoughts

There are no words for this book and how I felt about it. This book caused such a rage within me I actually debated on putting it down after the first few chapters. This didn't happen but that was only because I have an odd dedication to finish what I have started. Well that and the fact that I adored The Selection books prior to this one. I was excited to read more about how things went after Maxon and America got their happily ever after. However, what I found was not what I expected and I was disappointed to no end.

With the caste system broken down the world would be becoming a better happier place. Problem is once you label something, it's so hard to undo. You can remove labels but people still see them, and with so many last names coming from your caste number some are still seeing it that way. This alone would not have bothered me. We need some sort of conflict in a book right? However, what bothered me was flipping Eadlyn. You would think a child of America and Maxon would not have her head up her own rear end, but this was often the case. This was a huge problem for me in a character that should be so much better than that. Not to mention a future Queen.

Before anyone starts to get upset let me just state that I enjoyed Eadlyn knew what she wanted. The problem was how she went about getting it. Often Eadlyn was just nasty and self centred. One moment she would carry on about how people should not be thinking of others in numbers, and then the next moment she had no problem pointing out that she was better than someone due to status. I get that she is a princess, but I expected a much more kind princess.

To be honest Eadlyn was the sole reason I almost didn't finish this book. She caused such a rage within me that I actually made a call to rant and get it out. Once I had properly vented I pushed through the book. Eadlyn grows. Do I love her? No. Could she grow to be a character that I am not strangling in my mind... It is possible. The other reason that I continued on was the selected; the selected that made it past the 24 hour mark that is. There are some really interesting guys with completely different personalities. Each one there for a different reason and most of them not afraid to tell Eadlyn the truth.

Most of you will look at my rating and think I'm nuts. Keep in mind I did buy this book and honestly I couldn't decide between a 3* and a 4*. I went with 4 simply because once you look past the extremely flawed Eadlyn, The Heir is actually a decent read. I did finish it in a day (this includes an overnight shift, getting my vehicle worked on, family time and nap time). I can see a lot of potential but this lays in Eadlyn's hands. I will pick up the next book to see if she can manage to get her crap together, and treat the guys like people. Because when it comes down to it there are some seriously awesome guys there, each with their own perks.

Would I recommend you pick this up? I would have to leave that up to each individual. I think there will be a lot of people that react the way I did to the main character, but with that being said I think there will be people that will like her. The Heir is not the extension of The Selection books that I expected, but I hope that the next book will prove that Eadlyn can grow to be the queen that her people need.